A. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of removing pollutants from a gas stream. More particularly, the present invention relates to removing CO2 from gas streams and converting it to bicarbonate.
B. Description of Related Art
Most of the energy used in the world today is derived from the combustion of carbon and hydrogen containing fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Through the combustion of these fuels, CO2 is released. Awareness to the damaging effects of CO2 released during combustion has led to the enforcement of limits on CO2 emissions from power plants, refineries, and other industrial processes, which are expected to become more stringent overtime. Thus, pressures by regulators and the marketplace are increasing to reduce CO2 emissions.
In order reduce CO2 emissions, chemical processes can be used to capture and convert CO2 to a different form. For such processes to have a minimal carbon footprint, the entire process and the aspects that flow into and out of the process must be considered. Such processes have inputs such as electricity, fuel, water, as well as reagents that also require electricity, fuel, and water to make. Reducing CO2 emissions by taking these inputs into account and managing them more efficiently can lead to more sustainable carbon-capture solutions.